Nevertheless, when Bergstein walks into the 4-foot-tall cardboard refrigerator box turned voting booth at the Jewish Day School in Allentown next week, he says he'll cast his vote for Clinton -- no doubt about it.

Meredith Mishkin, who was barely teething the last time America chose a president, lacks her classmate's sense of conviction, but she's got her reasons.

"Perot says he wants to change the United States," she said. "Bill Clinton said that he's going to take some of the doctor's money away and my Dad is a doctor. George Bush said he was going to help Israel, but then he didn't."

So, you see her dilemma. Not one that's shared by Joel Mittleman, who says he'll vote along family lines. His mom supports Clinton. So does Joel. "He doesn't have big ears -- and Perot does," the 5-year-old explained. "I mean Ross Perot does."

Mittleman's reasons may be different from those of the average American voter. But it won't matter on Monday -- the day that kindergarten teacher Sheila Greenberg will give her class -- a small part of America's politically voiceless -- a vote.

"They all seem to have an opinion," she said. "So, I thought we would set up a voting booth and let them try it."

Greenberg, a teacher for 29 years, does not remember a time when such young students have been so interested in a presidential election.

Other educators agree there is more interest this year, which mirrors the national trend of increased voter interest among adults.

"This is arguably the most exciting election year in a generation," said Michael Young, a professor of politics at Pennsylvania State University. "And schools are a microcosm of society."

As a result, many schools from Easton to Bethlehem to Allentown and beyond are staging mock elections and political rallies.

At Northwestern Lehigh Elementary School, the election has become a school wide lesson touching every discipline, said Principal Mary Anne Wright. For geography, students are figuring how far candidates are traveling and to which states. In art class, they made election booths. For math, they're making graphs to chart predictions as to who will win.

"We're trying to incorporate what really goes on in kids' lives into our curriculum," Wright said.

Teachers at the school were surprised at how much students know about the candidates, she said.

They apparently know a lot at Trexler Middle School in Allentown, too, if the posters and flyers covering the walls are any indication. Bush, Clinton and Perot may have found a campaign appearance here no more comfortable than a grilling session with Ted Koppel, Larry King and Sam Donaldson.

One poster titled "Clintonisms" included this: "Smoked Pot, Who me!" Another sign said "Jennifer Who," an apparent reference to Gennifer Flowers, who became famous when she claimed she had an affair with Clinton. A third said, "Clinton -- Rotten to the Gore."

George Bush took a wallpaper jab for his famous broken promise "Read my lips. No New Taxes." Perot seemed to draw the least criticism, and when students were finished voting at a school wide election on Tuesday, it was Perot who topped the list, said Principal Ray O'Connell.